In Applicant's previous applications, such as in co-pending US-2005-0261379-A1, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference, the Applicant has previously described the use of an oil-in-water emulsion as means of controlling turf diseases. A disadvantage may be that certain grasses such as varieties of bentgrass are sensitive to oil-in-water formulations which can often have the undesired effect of discolouring the grass especially under the heat of summer. Although the health of the plant is not negatively affected, the discolouration can be problematic from an aesthetic perspective.
Pigment colorants, such as phthalocyanine compounds, are known to have been used in the turf industry, both in the presence and the absence of fungicide. The known literature teaches the use of pigment color, such as non-chlorinated copper phthalocyanine as a means of colouring the grass or turf. One such example is US 2006/0293188 A1 to Norton (Bayer Cropscience LP), the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference. Additional references include U.S. Pat. No. 5,336,661 to Lucas, U.S. Pat. No. 5,643,852 to Lucas and U.S. Pat. No. 5,599,804 to Mudge, the entirety of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Others references of interest include German application DE 2511077 published in 1978, which teaches cobalt phthalocyanine as a colourant in the absence of an acid. In an English abstract for JP 03-221576 to Nippon Chemical Works, published Sep. 30, 1991, the disclosed formulation uses phthalocyanine “green”, an anionic dispersant, and acrylic acid ester-styrene and water.
Unfortunately, none of the teachings provide a solution for use of pigment in oil-in-water emulsion systems as Applicant has found that pigments, such as polychlorinated copper phthalocyanine, appear to clump or coagulate and thereafter quickly fall out of suspension rendering the formulation unworkable.
Clearly, there is a need to provide an oil-in-water fungicidal formulation which contains a dispersion of pigment or colorant therein in which the colorant remains stably dispersed for application to turfgrass.